“A Hard to Believe Story” Pt 1:
We’ve all heard stories that stimulate or excite us. Others might bring sadness or sorrow. The Bible is filled with stories on both sides of the spectrum, but there’s one in particular that I might not believe if it weren’t in the Bible.
2 kings 6:24-33 tells us that King Ben-Hadad of Aram mobilized his entire army and besieged Samaria. He encircled the entire city sealing it so no one could get in or out. Ben-Hadad must have been thinking, “If I seal the city off, sooner or later the Israelites will run out of food. When they come out seeking food, we’ll go into the city and take control of it.
Evidently the king’s strategy was working as a famine began taking its toll on Samaria. The food supply had been depleted and now the famine was so great people were paying 80 pieces of silver (2 lbs.) for a donkey’s head. How they would eat a donkey’s head is beyond me. Perhaps they put it in a pot of boiling water and made soup. Regardless, this does indicate the seriousness of the famine and critical needs of the people. But there’s more.
The New Living Translation informs us that a cup of “dove’s dung” sold for about two ounces of silver. As mentioned, this story is hard to believe and if it wasn’t in the Bible, I might not. But it is, so I do believe it and also believe it has a purpose for being told. At the very least it helps us understand that people in desperate situations do desperate things.
People were trying to survive this famine any way they could and verses 26-30 tell us of two mothers, each with a young son. One mother said to the other, “today we’ll eat my son,” and “tomorrow, we’ll eat yours.” When the next day arrived, the first lady said, “we cooked my son and ate him, now it’s time to kill and eat yours.” But verse 29 says, “she had hidden him.”
When the king of Israel heard what was happening, he was distraught. He told the ladies, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, what can I do?” (v27). In deep sorrow and grief, the king blamed Elisha, the man of God for bringing on this horrible situation. As a result, the king sent a messenger to summon Elisha with the desire of murdering him.
Pastor Carnes
